CA_Libertarian
State Researcher
imported post
6/28/08
Drove to Ceres to my parents' house (no stops on the way), then continued on to Turlock. Met up with Californian (a new member of this forum) at McDonald's on Countryside Drive. We had coffee and discussed various political and economic issues. Open Carry was discussed, of course. After we had been sitting there talking for almost 2 hours, I noticed two Turlock police dept vehicles pull up across the parking lot. I couldn't see what was going on but it might have been a fender bender on the street nearby. Our coffee meetup lasted a solid three hours. In that time I noticed maybe one or two people staring down my strong-side hip, but no comments were heard.
As we were leaving, Californian asked me, "so do you get comments or dirty looks very often carrying in public?" I pointed out the time we just spent in a busy restuarant, and told him, "that's pretty much how it always goes." He told me that was reassuring and that he might try open carry out. I offered to be his 'wing man' when he's ready to try it out.
Went on to my friends' place by the university. When I got there my friend said they had plans to go to dinner for her brother's birthday, and that I was welcome to tag along. So, we headed out to La Morenita on Golden State Blvd (had to take the scenic route to avoid the schools). Sat and had dinner. After having been there about 30 minutes, my friend's younger brother (who is 18 I think) asked:
Bro: (forget his name right now): "How long have you been a cop?"
Me: "never."
Bro: "So why do you carry a gun?"
Me: "Why not?"
Beau (friend that some of you met at the dinner in Sac): "It's legal to carry a gun."
We had a brief exchange about gun laws, and then I excused myself to go outside to smoke. When I came back, one of the employees was walking up to greet me (she hadn't seen that I already had been there for a while. As soon as I made it through the door she spun around and walked the other way (toward the kitchen and a guy that seemed to be in charge) and I heard her say under her breath, "that guy's got a gun," or something to that effect. I continued walking in and asked where the restrooms were, and she politely directed me to them. When I came out she smiled as I passed her in the hall (obviously not shaken by the presence of my firearm as she had seemed on first glance).
When I got back to the table Beau told me that Miranda's grandmother had asked about my gun after I left (guess she didn't want to ask while we were discussing it a few minutes prior. She said something to the effect, "I was asking about your gun, but then they told me it's not loaded so it's OK." (She had earlier mentioned being a Democrat, and got the impression she's a bit anti-gun.) Sat in the restuarant another 30-45 min while gifts were unwrapped and cake was served. Stood in the parking lot another 15 minutes talking with my friend's dad.
Stopped at Target on Countryside Dr on the way back to Beau & Miranda's place. Spent maybe 10 minutes in the store. Then we all went to Game Stop (same parking lot), where we ran into Miranda's brother and his wife (who we just had dinner with). Spent a good 20 minutes in there where Miranda baught Rock Band. Then we stopped at Safeway across the street to pick up some adult beverages. Checkout was very slow, so we ended up spending a good 10 minutes in there.
Went back to Beau's place and stayed in the rest of the evening (except smoke breaks, of course). Went home about midnight.
Spent a total of 4-5 hours in public and had no problems, as usual.
6/28/08
Drove to Ceres to my parents' house (no stops on the way), then continued on to Turlock. Met up with Californian (a new member of this forum) at McDonald's on Countryside Drive. We had coffee and discussed various political and economic issues. Open Carry was discussed, of course. After we had been sitting there talking for almost 2 hours, I noticed two Turlock police dept vehicles pull up across the parking lot. I couldn't see what was going on but it might have been a fender bender on the street nearby. Our coffee meetup lasted a solid three hours. In that time I noticed maybe one or two people staring down my strong-side hip, but no comments were heard.
As we were leaving, Californian asked me, "so do you get comments or dirty looks very often carrying in public?" I pointed out the time we just spent in a busy restuarant, and told him, "that's pretty much how it always goes." He told me that was reassuring and that he might try open carry out. I offered to be his 'wing man' when he's ready to try it out.
Went on to my friends' place by the university. When I got there my friend said they had plans to go to dinner for her brother's birthday, and that I was welcome to tag along. So, we headed out to La Morenita on Golden State Blvd (had to take the scenic route to avoid the schools). Sat and had dinner. After having been there about 30 minutes, my friend's younger brother (who is 18 I think) asked:
Bro: (forget his name right now): "How long have you been a cop?"
Me: "never."
Bro: "So why do you carry a gun?"
Me: "Why not?"
Beau (friend that some of you met at the dinner in Sac): "It's legal to carry a gun."
We had a brief exchange about gun laws, and then I excused myself to go outside to smoke. When I came back, one of the employees was walking up to greet me (she hadn't seen that I already had been there for a while. As soon as I made it through the door she spun around and walked the other way (toward the kitchen and a guy that seemed to be in charge) and I heard her say under her breath, "that guy's got a gun," or something to that effect. I continued walking in and asked where the restrooms were, and she politely directed me to them. When I came out she smiled as I passed her in the hall (obviously not shaken by the presence of my firearm as she had seemed on first glance).
When I got back to the table Beau told me that Miranda's grandmother had asked about my gun after I left (guess she didn't want to ask while we were discussing it a few minutes prior. She said something to the effect, "I was asking about your gun, but then they told me it's not loaded so it's OK." (She had earlier mentioned being a Democrat, and got the impression she's a bit anti-gun.) Sat in the restuarant another 30-45 min while gifts were unwrapped and cake was served. Stood in the parking lot another 15 minutes talking with my friend's dad.
Stopped at Target on Countryside Dr on the way back to Beau & Miranda's place. Spent maybe 10 minutes in the store. Then we all went to Game Stop (same parking lot), where we ran into Miranda's brother and his wife (who we just had dinner with). Spent a good 20 minutes in there where Miranda baught Rock Band. Then we stopped at Safeway across the street to pick up some adult beverages. Checkout was very slow, so we ended up spending a good 10 minutes in there.
Went back to Beau's place and stayed in the rest of the evening (except smoke breaks, of course). Went home about midnight.
Spent a total of 4-5 hours in public and had no problems, as usual.